Newsom Signs $170M Wildfire Prevention Funding and Order

15 Apr at 3:18 pm

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Newsom Signs $170M Wildfire Prevention Funding and Order \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation Monday allocating over $170 million for wildfire prevention and forest thinning projects. The funding comes alongside an executive order easing environmental permitting to speed up urgent fire mitigation efforts. Critics argue the plan favors logging over community-based fire safety.

Quick Looks

$170 million approved for wildfire prevention statewide.
Executive order streamlines environmental reviews for faster project launches.
Funding comes from a $10B voter-approved environmental bond.
Six conservancies to manage forest thinning and brush removal.
Southern California and Sierra Nevada receive largest shares.
2024 has already seen California’s second-worst wildfire damage.
Newsom declared a state of emergency in March for brush clearance.
Critics say funds favor destructive logging over structural protection.
Prescribed burns remain key to California’s fire mitigation strategy.
Climate change is worsening the state’s wildfire frequency and severity.

Deep Look

As California braces for another intense wildfire season, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Monday allocating more than $170 million in state funding for wildfire prevention. Alongside the funding, Newsom issued an executive order to expedite critical fire mitigation projects, overriding some environmental protections in an effort to accelerate vegetation management and forest thinning statewide.

This proactive move comes amid heightened public anxiety following the January wildfires that scorched Los Angeles neighborhoods, making 2024 the second most destructive fire year on record in the state. Over 16,000 homes and structures have already been lost, most of them in communities situated along the wildland-urban interface — zones where human development meets flammable vegetation.

How the $170 Million Will Be Used

The funding is part of a $10 billion environmental bond passed by California voters last year. This latest $170 million installment was greenlit via an early action budget bill passed by the Legislature and will be distributed among six regional conservancies, which fall under the Governor’s Resources Agency.

Here’s how the money breaks down:

$85 million for Southern California conservancies, including Santa Monica Mountains and San Diego River regions.
$54 million for the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, which includes vast tracts of high-risk forestland.
Around $31 million each for the State Coastal Conservancy, San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers Conservancy, and Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
$23 million each for the California Tahoe Conservancy and San Diego River Conservancy.

These agencies will oversee forest thinning, brush clearance, and vegetation management projects in high-risk fire zones across the state.

Newsom’s Executive Order: Cutting Red Tape for Urgent Work

In tandem with the funding bill, Newsom signed an executive order that invokes provisions from a March emergency proclamation suspending portions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California Coastal Act. The goal: to streamline environmental permitting for projects deemed urgent and necessary for wildfire prevention.

“With this latest round of funding, we’re continuing to increase the speed and size of forest and vegetation management essential to protecting communities,” Newsom said. “We are leaving no stone unturned — including cutting red tape — in our mission to ensure our neighborhoods are protected from destructive wildfires.”

Climate Change and Political Tensions Fuel the Debate

California’s wildfire risk has intensified as climate change fuels longer, more erratic fire seasons. Shifts between wet and dry periods have created dense vegetation prone to ignition, while warmer temperatures and drought conditions have made fires burn faster and hotter.

But fire prevention remains deeply political. Former President Donald Trump frequently blamed California for failing to manage its forests, stating in 2020:

“There are many, many years of leaves and broken trees and they’re like, like, so flammable — you touch them and it goes up.”

While Trump’s remarks were often mocked, they also highlighted a broader debate: how much of the responsibility for forest management lies with state vs. federal authorities, given that more than half of California’s forestland is federally managed.

Environmental Groups Push Back

Not everyone is applauding Newsom’s strategy. Critics argue the fast-tracked projects risk causing environmental harm under the guise of urgency.

“Unfortunately, this money will go toward logging projects that skirt environmental review and harm forests and the climate,” said Shaye Wolf, climate science director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This funding doubles down on forest destruction rather than investing in real wildfire safety measures like home hardening in communities.”

Activists have urged the state to focus on defensible space creation, fireproof building retrofits, and community-based protection, rather than large-scale vegetation removal.

Prescribed Burns, Long-Term Strategy, and What Comes Next

Despite the controversy, prescribed burns — controlled fires used to reduce flammable fuel loads — remain a cornerstone of California’s wildfire resilience strategy. Newsom has previously pledged $2.5 billion in broader wildfire prevention spending, which includes funding for prescribed burns, firebreaks, and community engagement programs.

With peak fire season approaching, the state is in a race against time to complete as many mitigation projects as possible. The goal: protect communities before the next major blaze, reduce the scale of destruction, and address the worsening wildfire crisis with the urgency that climate conditions demand.